Marianne Marsh has recently commented from France that ” my Britishness will not expire after 15 years, but it looks as if my rights will”, despite demonstrating her continuing commitment to the UK by travelling together with her husband to London to cast their votes in person in the EU Referendum.

“I have lived in Paris since I retired in 2007. I opted for postal voting in 2010. I was denied my voting rights by not receiving my ‘postal’ papers until the day after the election, and I gathered that thousands of others, including the armed services on deployment, suffered the same fate. Because of this experience my husband and I travelled to London to cast our votes in person in the EU referendum. No other country sets a ‘use-by’ date for its citizens’ democratic rights. My Britishness will not expire after 15 years, but it looks as if my rights will.”

Let’s hope the “Votes for Life” commitment in the Conservative Party’s manifesto for the 2015 general election will not be forgotten in the rush to “Brexit”.

Cat SmithShadow Minister for Women and Equalities, Shadow Minister for Voter Engagement and Youth Affairs, Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Commons:

“To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to A democracy that works for everyone: British citizens overseas, a policy statement, published on 7 October 2016, whether increased staff time and resources were a criterion in determining the amount of additional funding to be provided to electoral registration officers in relation to the removal of the 15-year time limit on British citizens living abroad being able to vote in elections.”

Chris SkidmoreParliamentary Under-Secretary (Cabinet Office)

“British citizens living abroad retain strong links with the United Kingdom: they may have family here, and they may plan to return here in the future. Equally, there are many British citizens abroad who have fought for our country, dedicating their lives to our armed services. Their stake in our country must be respected. This Government will not deny them the opportunity to have their say in the way their country is governed. That is why we are committed to introducing votes for life for British citizens living abroad.

The Government estimates that a further 3 million British citizens resident overseas will be enfranchised under the ‘votes for life’ proposals set out in the policy statement published on 7 October 2016. The Government has made initial estimates of how many newly enfranchised overseas electors may register to vote, and will continue to further refine its estimates in light of new data as it becomes available.

The Government acknowledges that initial applications to register to vote from newly enfranchised overseas electors are likely to take longer to process than most other applications. This increase in staff time has been built into the Government’s estimates of the expected costs of this policy measure. The Government is currently seeking feedback from electoral administrators and others on the detail of its proposals and will review them if measures to streamline processes are identified.

The Government is committed to legislating to remove the 15-year rule before the 2020 general election.”

The complexities of the trade negotiations might also drag on into 2020 and a general election, by which time if legislation is in place for ” Votes for Life“, all British expats will finally have a chance to have their say!

“In a ‘White Paper’ on The United Kingdom’s exit from and new partnership with the European Union, the government says: “We want to secure the status of EU citizens who are already living in the UK, and that of UK nationals in other member states, as early as we can”. “

A copy of the government’s “White Paper” referred to in the above Connexion article can be found here:

Continuing to remind the British government not to forget the planned “Votes for Life” legislation, despite the pressures of Brexit , here’s a detailed contribution from Susan Kubitz.

Susan is a long-term British expat working with her family in Germany who was shocked not to be allowed to vote in the EU Referendum, and begs the question of “without my vote, where is my identity as this sort of constructive British European?”

Susan Kubitz writes on

January 31, 2017 at 2:04 pm:

“Before my (German) husband’s hopes of starting up his own electroplating business took us to central Germany (ex-GDR) in the 90’s we lived in Birmingham. We had been able to bring up our children together in Britain because of a successful human rights campaign in 1974. We were euphoric when the Wall came down and felt that German reunification was to a certain extent an expression of the efforts also made by the EU to live together in peace after all the horrors of WW ll. Like other people commenting here we felt we could simply take our two separate nationalities for granted because in any case we both belonged to the EU. My German friends ask me now if I want to become German – but I’ve always believed in reforming things from within. Until very recently I was proud to be British: have been a frequent returner to the UK, am still active as teacher of British English and translator, and like other people on this site I care about Britain. Thank you to the people who have got this site together.”

“It was a shock to find that I was not allowed to vote in the referendum. Had taught an “All about Britain” course at our local University of Technology as part of the Europastudium offered to students as an extra qualification for many years (1996 – 2010), always saying “It’s not a tidy picture but somehow we manage to steer a diplomatic path through all the complex historical relationships without disruption:
– England-Wales-Scotland-Northern Ireland
– Britain-earlier colonies (i.e. USA)
– Britain-ex-Victorian Empire (i.e. Commonwealth in Foreign Affairs and, within Britain, greater progress on living together multi-culturally than I saw in Germany)
– Britain- EU”.”

“To put my emphatic approval for things like the Erasmus scheme into practice, I have had numerous students from the UK (one was Polish, had lived in the UK since his early teens) here on placement with me or with other local companies. It is not only my own lost vote that grieves me but the loss and destruction of opportunities like this for young people to make friendships within a European Union that has been a channel for co-operative energies.”

“And without my vote, where is my identity as this sort of constructive British European?”

Reminding the British government not to forget the planned “Votes for Life” legislation, despite the pressures of Brexit, here are the latest comments on our sign-up pollfrom British expats on why they deserve the right to vote:

Richard Bower – 2 weeks ago

“I have lived and worked in France for 38 years, with a French wife and 3 bi-national, bi-cultural and bi-lingual children, of whom I am extremely proud. I have always felt that we were part of an open-minded, tolerant and progressive society, Europe, which allowed me to retain my culturally British identity whilst blending in to my French home. Stupidly I ignored the fact that being disenfranchised 23 years ago effectively put an end to my Britishness in terms of rights. Being European, it didn’t seem to matter. Brexit shows that it did. Belatedly, I now support the movement for votes for expat Brits. I wish I had done so many years ago.”

Jill Conway-Fell – 3 weeks ago

“I have lived and worked in Denmark since I was young, when I was employed at the British Embassy in Copenhagen, after which I was employed by The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Regional Office for Europe.
It has been a source of irritation and anger that I lost my right to vote in the UK, in spite of the fact that I am a first-generation UK citizen, especially in view of the fact that citizens of numerous other EU Member States retain a lifetime vote in their countries of origin.
It is about time that we are granted a vote for life, putting us on an equal footing with others.
Brexit makes it even more imperative that our vote in the UK be restored.
As others have commented, a considerable number of retirees would vote Conservative, so please ensure that immediate action is taken.”

Del – 1 month ago

“Where’s our vote? As a passport holding UK expat whose life will be just as affected as anyone living in the UK then surely I and a couple of million others like me should have been eligible to vote! They omitted a couple of million very interested parties that almost certainly would have stopped this joke of a so called referendum in it’s tracks.

Despite its problems with Brexit, let’s hope the British government presses on with the “Votes for Life” bill to remove the 15-year-limit which deprives British citizens living overseas of their right to vote.

Giorgio Greening who was 16 when she left the UK has never voted in her country of birth but remains keenly interested in UK politics:

“I have lived in Germany since 1975 and have never voted in my life. I am not German, so I can not vote in German elections and I was 16 when I left the UK so I have never voted in the UK. I am keenly interested in UK politics and it is inexplicable that I can not not participate in the democratic process.”